Tomato pulper and seed extractor



ml 14,, 19240 L5lL288 J. F. LINDLEY TOMATO PULPER AND SEED EXTRAGTOR Filed Abril 28. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m M INVENTOR.

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J. F. LINDLEY TOMATO PULPER AND SEED EXTRACTOR Filed April 28. 1923- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JfiMEs E Z/NDL EX A TTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 14, 1924.

- ;UNlTED' STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

To all whom it stituency. The machine herein urns r. LinnLnY, or mnniuroms, nmrnu, nssmnon. 'ro mnur'a cums ncrmmnr COMPANY, or mmnuroms, nmrnu, A conroiwrron.

TOMATO PULPER AND SEED EXTRAC'IOB.

Application filed April 28, 1923. Serial Il'o. 635,216.

co'rwevm: Be it known that I, JAMES F. Lmmmr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Tomato Pulper and Seed Extractor; and I do hereby declare that the followin is a full, clear, and exact description thereo reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

The object of this invention primar ly is to rovide a' single machine for successively different treatments of tomatoes and the like, and preferably treatments wherein the tomato material is more and more refined and reduced by the successive cylinders in the machine. Another object of the invention is the extraction of seeds from tomatoes and the like while they are being pulped.

One feature of the invention is the compound character of the machine, whereby 1n a single machine tomatoes and the like may be successively but diiferently treated 1n pulping or seeding the same, or maklng catsup, soup stock or the like. the successive treatments in said machme, the tomatoes are successively reduced to a finer conshown, which is termed a tomato seeder, has a beatin cylinder in the upper part of the machine or coarsely treating the tomatoes and the like and separating t erefrom the cores and skin. The relatively coarse material coming from the first cylinder, free from cores and skin, passes down to a cylinder below in which it is further treated for refining the roduct and also separating the seeds there om.

To accomplish the objects of the invention, the component parts-of said machme have various structural characteristics. The

screen in the upper cylinder has relative larger perforations than the lower cylinder. The up r cylinder has a relatively small throat, ut with a small impeller therein to; handle the mass of large tomatoes or mate rial coming from the hopper and force 1t through the machine rapidly. The beaters in said upper cylinder are also inchned to facilitate the separation of the skin and cores and discharging the same at the rear end of the cylinder.

The lower cylinder needs no impeller in the throat because the material coming screen when it is desired to extract the seeds.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanyin drawings and the following description and claims:

In the drawings, Fi re 1 is a perspective view of the machine with parts of the cylinder casings broken awa Fig. 2 is a central vertical longitudina section through the machine. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section of the upper beater and drain pan, arts being broken away. Fig. 4 shows in e evation portions of the screens in the upper and lower cylinders, on an enlarged scale, to indicate the relative mesh or size of the perforations. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the shaft of the upper cylinder with the impeller and one of the beaters in plan'view, the shaft beingbroken away at its ends, and showing the inclined portion of the beater.

The supporting frame work of the machine consists substantially of the end frames 10 which are formed of vertical side leg supports and curved upper end and cross bars 11 and 12. The end frames are connected by the upper side bars 13 and lower side bars 14, as shown in Fig. 1.

In the curved upper part of the end frames the shaft 15 of the upper cylinder is mounted, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Said shaft extends concentrically through two cylinder end plates 16 which are stationary and secured to the frame members 17 and 18 which are fastened on the main frame. Said plates 16 have inwardly extending annular flanges 19 on the outside. Semi-circular cylinder frames 20 rest on said flanges 19 and are hinged together on the lower side by hinges 21 and are clamped through the same. That 1s, the perforations in the up r cylinder are say five-thirt seconds offm inch, or larger than those in the usual machine for pulping tomatoes or making catsu Th'e tomato material is forced throug the screens into the panor receiving chamber 25 under the upper cylinder, as seen in Fig. 2.

There is a hop or 30 at one end of the machine with its otton inclined downward and inward so as to convey the tomatoes,

which'lpreviously are usually washed, steamed or coo ed, to the cylinder. In the lower part of the hopper the shaft carries a screw 130 for forcing the tomatoes into the c hnder. In the throat of the cylinder at the in ct from the hopper, there is an impeller 31 on the shaft 15. This is for the purpose of rece ving the coarse tomatoes or tomato mater al from the ho per and forcibly and readlly feedin it t rough the cylinder. the cy inder there are beaters 32, two of them in the upper cylinder shown herein and'each beater is mounted on arms 33 extending radially in spider form from the shaft on which said arms are secured. The arms are so arranged as to hold the heaters in this machine a little farther away from the screen or cylinder than has been customa in 111 ingmachines heretofore used; and 350 t e eaters are inclined with reference to the axis of the shaft 15, as shown in Fig. 5, in order to speed the-lateral movement of the tomato material in the cylinder, from the hopper in towards the discharge end. This construction causes the cores and skins in the tomato material to be fed through the machine and discharged through the outlet 36 instead of the same being forced der to the lower cylinder.

through the screen. It also enables the tomato material to be forced rather rapidly and quickly through the screen and in relatively larger lumps or form.

The lower cylinder in the machine herein shown is formed and constructed the same as the upper e linder excepting the following features: he shaft 45 is mounted on upwardly curved bars 46 secured in the end frames of the machine, as shown. There is no hopper, but there is a conduit 40 leading from the drain pan or chamber under the upper cylinder for conveying the tomato material which comes from the upper cylin- Th1s material is free from cores and skinsand contains a large amount of liquid so that there is no impeller 31 necessary in'the lower cylinder. The screen in the lower cylinder has a relativel small mesh or has relatively small pe orations as compared with the Within upper cylinder. As shown in Fig. 4, where facilitate the passageof the seeds through the machine and cause their discharge through the seed outlet 42 at the dischar end of the lower cylinder, and prevent t e seeds from passin through the erforations in the lower cy mder. The e tomato material that passes through the screen of the lower cylinder is collected in the drain pan or chamber 43 and is removed through the outlet 44 by any suitable means. Both the pans 25 and 43 have inclined bottoms as usual. in machines of this general character.

The machine is driven through power coming through the pulle s 50 on the shaft 45 extending through the ower cylinder and power is transmitted from that shaft to shaft 15 to a belt 51 passing over pulleys on said shafts.

\Vhile this machine has been invented and manufactured particularly for the purose of extracting seeds in tomatoes and the ike, at the same time and by the same machine that pulps or otherwise treats the same, the invention is not limited to such use. If it is not desired to extract the seeds", the heaters need not be inclined, nor need the perforations be as small as the seeds, although for producing fine tomato material, said perforatlons will have to be relatively small. v

If it be desired to make cat'sup or tomato soup material or other very liquid form, the perforations in the top cylinder are preferably made smaller than that shown in the drawings herein, that is, about six onehundredths of an inch in diameter or about forations still smaller, that is, preferabl I about twenty seven-thousandths of an inc in diameter.

The production of seeds from tomatoes and the like is a large industry and heretofore it has been done by machine distinct and seperate from the pulping machines. The seeds separated are passed out through the dischar e spout 42 and subsequently are washed an cleaned and prepared for the market to be sold for seeding pu oses.

Where the only object of the mac ine described herein is to produce fine material from the tomatoes, that is done hereby much more satisfactorily and rapidly than can be done by a single machine. For in roducing such material, it is necessary to l fave screens with relatively small mesh or perfo rations and when a single machine of such construction would be used, too much valuable material passes out at the discharge end of the machine and is wasted and lost.

The invention claimed is:

l. A machine for treating tomatoes and the like, which includes two horizontal beatin cylinders, one below the other, the lower cy inder having perforations in the wall thereof smaller than those in the upper cylinder, a conduit for conveying material from one of said cylinders to the other by gravity, revoluable paddles in each of said cylinders, each cylinder and paddle being arranged to rapidly move the material through the cylinder so that the coarse part thereof will be discharged at the-end of the c linder and the finer liquid portion thereo will be discharged through the perforations of the cylinders, the paddles 1n the u per cylinder being spaced farther from t e perforated cylinders than those in the lower cylinder.

2. A machine for treating tomatoes and the like, which includes a plurality of horizontal beating cylinders, one below the other, and the perforations in the lower cylinder of the shaft, the paddles in the up er cylinder being spaced farther from t e perforated cylinders than those in the lower cylinder, substantially as set forth.

3. A machine for treating tomatoes and the like, which includes horizontal beating cylinders, one below the other, the lower cylinder having perforations smaller than those in the upper cylinder, a conduit for conveying material from the upper cylinder to the lower cylinder, and revoluble paddles in each of said cylinders inclined in relation to the axis of the cylinder and located adjacent the wall of the cylinder, the paddle in the upper cylinder being farther away from the Wall of the cylinder than the paddles in the lower cylinder, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

JAMES F. LINDLEY. 

